Alexander Zverev has become the first German player to win a 30th match at the Australian Open after beating Tommy Paul in four sets to reach the semi-finals.
The German world No.2 overcame a minor blip in the third frame to beat his American rival 7-6(1), 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-1, in what is his first Tour-level win over Paul. It is the second year in a row that Zverev has reached the last four in Melbourne Park and the third overall. In his latest match against Paul, he produced a total of 27 winners and won 72% of his first service points.
Despite being ranked nine places higher than his opponent, Zverev was put through his paces. In the first two sets, he had to come back from a break down before prevailing in the tiebreakers. To add to his frustration, he then dropped the third before regrouping in the fourth.
“To be honest, I should have been down two sets to love,” Zverev said during his on-court interview.
“He served for both of those sets and played better than me.
“I was not playing great (but) I somehow won the first set, somehow won the second set, and I’m up two sets to love.
“The fourth set was definitely the best that I’ve played. I’m extremely happy to be back in the semifinals now.”
Zverev has won nine out of his last 10 matches against top 20 players on the Tour. His only defeat was to Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals last November. Before playing Paul, he also dismissed world No.16 Ugo Humbert in four sets earlier this week.
Coming into this year’s Grand Slam, the 27-year-old admits he didn’t have the best preparation due to a bicep injury that forced him to withdraw from the Laver Cup. Nevertheless, he has been relatively efficient on the Melbourne courts and has spent just over 12 hours playing across five matches in the tournament.
“It was very uncertain coming into this tournament,” Zverev admits.
“I had a little bit of an arm injury and had to pull out of the United Cup, so I didn’t have the preparation that I wanted.
“But I played well in the first few matches and that gave me a lot of confidence for the tough battles like today.
“I’m looking forward to hopefully two more matches to play.”
Zverev, who is seeking his first major title, will play either Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic for a place in the final. He has beaten both players multiple times, leading Alcaraz 6-5 in their head-to-head but is currently 4-8 against Djokovic.
Whoever he plays in the next round, Zverev is hoping to be given a night-time slot.
“I love playing night matches here. I just feel the ball so well on my racket and during the day I kind of struggle a little bit more.” He explained.
Zverev has now reached nine Grand Slam semi-finals which is the joint-second highest tally among active players on the ATP Tour. Djokovic currently leads with 50.
